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Main Character Index | Val'Sarghress | Val'Sarghress: Vals | Val'Sarghress: Vassal Houses | Vel'Sharen | Vel'Sharen: Snadhya'rune and her bloodline | Vel'Sharen: Sarv'swati and her bloodline | Vel'Sharen: Sil'lice and her bloodline | Vel'Sharen: Nishi'kanta and her bloodline | Zala'ess and her bloodline | Val'Sullinsin'rune | Vel'Vloz'ress | Val'Kyorl'solenurn | Val'Illhar'dro | Val'Beldrobbaen | Val'Nal'sarkoth | Val'Jaal'darya | The Nidraa'chal | Minor Clans and Clanless Characters

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Jaaldarya_6833.jpg
Jaal'darya clan symbol
One of the clans to rise to power in Chel after the decline of the Sharess religion. The Jaal'darya originate from the fallen nation of Damadi, but moved to and then were forced to leave Mimaneid. Something of a Wild Card in Chelian politics, they nevertheless supply technology and healing arts not seen amongst the rest of Chel so no one can actually afford to oppose them.

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    General 
  • Animal Motifs: The biogolems, which are sterile and technically not a species due to this, are the closest thing the Jaal have to a clan animal.
  • Artificial Limbs: Besides making replacement limbs, they also make tails and wings for themselves.
  • Cultural Blending: The Jaal'darya seem to have been based on a mixture of Arabic, Middle Eastern and North African cultures. In-universe, their members originate from several different cities, including Damadi, Mimaneid and Chel.
  • Deal with the Devil: Many of their deals are like this, for instance Snadhya'rune paying for Kalki's birth was said to have drained her assets for nearly a year, and it came with massive strings attached. This is also why Quain'tana refused to pay for them to give her a child.
    • The Jaal'darya podcast also says that if they were to do something like turn a male into a female (something Kel'noz is said to have considered) so he could have children they would probably want the first child.
  • Deep Cover Agent: Wafay believes that her mother is in fact a Nidraa'chal agent. And to make it worse, she's been developing the parasitic flower. You can panic now. Also, Wi'am is implied to be one as well.
  • Does Not Like Men: To varying extents. To the outside world, they present the appearance of an all female clan. They almost always cover themselves up in the presence of men but wear whatever they want around other Women. Some Jaal'darya despise men, while others feel sorry for them and want to turn them into women. Despite this reputation however, they actually do have plenty of men within their secluded fortress, and they seem amused when the Sarghress visiting them react with surprise.
  • Even Morally Ambiguous Mad Scientists Have Standards: The Jaal don't seem to have many scruples, and are willing to use things up to and including biological warfare, but it's heavily implied that even the Jaal'darya don't fool around when it comes to demons. As for the biological warfare, that is apparently the work of one clan member who may actually be a Nidraa'chal agent. The clan as a whole isn't thrilled when they are confronted with evidence of this scheme.
  • Fantasy Counterpart Culture: As mentioned above, the Jaal'darya seem to be based on an amalgamation of Arabic, Middle Eastern and North African influences, e.g. their clothing style and names such as Femi, Rani, Wafay and Asira/Malika etc.
  • Foreshadowing: During the Jaal'darya podcast, the writer of the comic mentions that besides entire clans bargaining with the Jaal'darya, it's also possible for an individual to make a bargain with one member of the Jaal that the rest of the clan may or may not know about. In hindsight, this was pretty clearly referencing Kalki's birth.
  • Hidden Elf Village: Their fortress is hidden on a giant lake somewhere in the Underworld.
  • Homosexual Reproduction: Their ultimate goal is to eliminate the need for men entirely when it comes to procreation. As Kalki demonstrates, they succeeded.
  • In the Hood: A frequent part of their fashion
  • Lady Land: Even more so than typical drow.
  • Mad Scientist: Pretty much their clan's Hat.
  • Noble Fugitive: Twice over, once from their homeland of Damadi and again from Mimaneid.
  • No Biological Sex: Word of God is that the Jaal's biogolems technically do not have a physical sex, and thus are sterile.
  • No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup: The Jaal'darya take significant efforts to keep their knowledge a secret, even from one another. As a result, when Femi dies, Snadhya'rune loses control over her Poison and Cure Gambit, since Femi was the only one who knew how to make the cure and her other Jaal'darya agents lack all access to any notes she may have kept.
  • Professor Guinea Pig: They use themselves for experiments.
  • Shrouded in Myth: The entire clan, and a Daydream story about the clan is explicitly non-canon except for certain bits. It's also suggested that they deliberately play up certain things such as the idea that there are no men in the fortress when in fact there are quite a few.
  • Stalker with a Test Tube: It's implied that some of the few situations where they put up with males involve them trying to gain access to certain bloodline powers.
  • Straw Feminist: Word of God describes the Jaal'darya as an extreme feminist cult, but played with in that drow society is already matriarchal, so the word "feminist" has very different connotations than it does in the real world.
  • Uterine Replicator: Part of their research into Homosexual Reproduction included the creation of golems who can carry children to term. The Daydream story about the clan has the first versions being made out of one of the potential mother's limbsnote  making what's essentially a clone of the mother in the process, but later versions could use the mother's blood for the same purpose.
  • Vetinari Job Security: The Jaal'darya are correctly regarded as being manipulative, but they hold the monopoly on their technology, which everyone wants and/or needs, so no one can afford to oppose them.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: Wile their methods are extreme and basically amount to a Gendercide, they seem to honestly want the drow race to survive, and Asira makes a very good point against the Sharen's "wait it out" policy.
    • They also deliberately infected a group of unknowing Relic Hunters with an ancient fungus as a back up plan in case of a Sharen reprisal against them, since even tainting won't protect them if their bodies are rotting. Given what we know about the Sharen, the Jaal's actions, while disgusting, make a surprising amount of sense.

    Asira'malika 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/asira.png

Asira'malika Val'Jaal'darya

The Ill'haress of the Jaal'darya, little is known about her outside of her appearance in chapter 16.

  • Meaningful Name: "Malika" means "Queen" in Sanskrit, and the Origin of the Jaal'Darya story suggests that "Malika" may actually be a suffix that the leaders of the clan take in addition to their names and a royal title, since Asira'malika was originally known as Asira'sima in that story before taking leadership. "Asira" also means "chosen" in Arabic, which fits with her title as the Seer of New Ways.
  • Milky White Eyes: Her irises, at least, are white. Her schlera are actually a dark brown or dark red.
  • Noblewoman's Laugh: "Ku ku ku!"
  • Professor Guinea Pig: The reason her skin looks the way it does is because she tried to make herself look like a Dark Elf. It didn't work.
  • Stripperiffic: Her clothing, which leaves her stomach completely bare, though this may be to show off the fact that she appears to be pregnant.

    Wi'am 

Wi'am Val'Jaal'darya

A Jaal'darya friend of Mel'arnach's. She also helped create Kalki and in Chapter 44 is revealed to have restored Zhor to his dark elven body.

  • Artificial Limbs: Gave herself a tail.
  • Chekhov's Gunman: Not her, but the biogolem she gave Mel appeared all the way back in Chapter 8, and she finally appears on panel in Chapter 25.
  • Disney Villain Death: When the Imperial Tower collapses, she falls out of it, presumably to her death.
  • Evilutionary Biologist: And she is probably one of the best in her clan considering what she has been able to achieve.
  • Facial Markings: Has prominent tattoos over both eyes.
  • For Science!: Probably the motivation behind most of what she does.
  • From a Certain Point of View: What she tells Mel, mainly that Mel's egg was being used for "an experiment" but what Wi'am left out was that said experiment was Kalki.
  • Mad Scientist: Can be inferred based on her membership in the Jaa'darya, not to mention the whole thing with Kalki and creating a new body for Zhor.
  • Secret-Keeper: For Snadhya'rune, involving Kalki, up to and including getting one of Mel's eggs to make her.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: She uses some pretty extreme methods to make Kalki, described by Snadhya'rune as "horrifying", but she seems genuinely happy when seen with the infant Kalki. It's also heavily implied that she's actually a Nidraa'chal agent given that she appears at Snadhya'rune's gathering in Chapter 44.
  • We Used to Be Friends: Seems like she has become this to Mel'arnach, judging by the latter's reaction to her appearance in Chapter 44, claiming to not remember her despite earlier referring to her as a "someone [she's] known for a long time" and waving to her when she arrived, as well as Mel'arnach's shock that Wi'am tricked Mel into giving her eggs to her to create Kalki on Snadhya'rune's request in Chapter 25.
    • This eventually builds up to Mel'arnarch cutting her tail off when she tries to prevent her from talking with Snadhya-rune about lying to her about her children being dead..
  • Wild Card: It's implied that she might be this to her clan; twice has she done experiments for Snadhya'rune outside of any personal gain for either her clan or herself and in Chapter 44 she doesn't seem to have a problem appearing uncovered in front of Zhor now in humanoid male form despite standard Jaal'darya practice. She even comments to Mel'arnach on Zhor's delicious posterior.
  • You're Insane!: She cries this out when Mel'arnach cuts off her tail.

    Femi 

Wafay's mother and the daughter of Rani, Femi was first seen in the extra of Chapter 26 on a trip to surface world to retrieve the parasitic flower.

  • Evilutionary Biologist: Chapter 44 sees her handing out vials of poison to attendees at the Nidraa'chal gathering, which is heavily implied to be extracted from the parasitic flower from pre-timeskip Chapter 26. The effects of the poison effectively cause the infected individual to rot from the inside out. Snadhya'rune intends to use this as a bio-weapon against her enemies.
  • Deep Cover Agent: Wafay at least believes that she's really a Nidraa'chal agent. She is later confirmed to be working for Snadhya'rune with her appearance at the Felde gathering in Chapter 44.
  • In the Hood: Often seen wearing a cape.
  • Killed Off for Real: A Sarghress member of the Fallen Legion steals her work and leaves her to bleed to death. This throws a big wrench in Snadhya'rune's plans, since she was the only Jaal'darya that knew how to create the antidote for their Poison and Cure Gambit.
  • Mad Scientist: Her work with the parasitic flower definitely qualifies.
  • Strong Family Resemblance: Subverted, she does not look very much like her daughter Wafay, save for sharing the same hair color.
  • Tomboyish Ponytail: Femi wears her hair in this style and her character design depicts her as somewhat stockier and more broadly built than the average drowolath female.

    Wafay and Sata 

Wafay Val'Jaal'darya

A young member of the clan who debuted after the 15-year Timeskip. She is the daughter of Femi and the granddaughter of Rani (a character appearing in Daydream). Wafay suspects that her mother is a Nidraa'chal agent, causing her to seek out the Sarghress.

  • Animal-Eared Headband: Her hood gives her the appearance of having cat ears, which considering her clan, is a very real possibility, though Wafay herself doesn't have any.
  • Animal Eyes: Her eyes sometimes become narrow slits like a cat.
  • Ascended Extra: Not Wafay herself, but her grandmother Rani was first featured in a Daydream story describing the rise of the Jaal'darya in Chel.
  • Curtains Match the Window
  • Fangirl: Is one of Quaintana's many admirers. Her perception that the Sarghress are mercenaries that fight for justice is why she comes to them to get help against her mother's possible machinations.
  • Irony: Her Spanner in the Works role to Snadhya'rune, in light of the fact that they both went against their mothers behind their backs, but while Wafay is motivated by honest concern about the parasitic flower and puts herself at great risk in order to seek help Snadhya'rune is motivated by pure self interest.
  • Plucky Girl: She has to be this in order to navigate the war-torn city on her own and seek the aid of another clan based on a suspicion, mainly, that her mother is a Nidraa'chal agent and is planning on using the parasitic flower as a weapon.
  • Spanner in the Works: Unexpectedly acts as one for Snadhya'rune by alerting the Sarghress to the existence of the parasitic flower, which culminates in Femi's death and the theft of the antidote, which leaves Snadhya'rune scrambling to find a replacement who can recreate it all thanks to a little girl.
  • The Stool Pigeon: The Whistleblower Wilma variety, regarding her mother's apparent Nidraa'chal membership, and the existence of the parasitic flower.
  • Values Dissonance: An in-universe example. At one point, she sees a mother who was forced to drown her infant son due to poverty. Out of sympathy, Wafay suggests she sell her babies to the Jaal'darya, failing to understand that most drow consider being made into a golem a Fate Worse than Death. Wafay is perplexed at the mother's angry reaction, since she considers it better to live.invoked

Sata

Wafay's biogolem, he seems to be her protector.

    Fia'nova* 

Fia'nova Jaal'darya*note 

A Jaal'darya summoner and Nidraa'chal agent present at Snadhya's gathering in Felde. She is the twin sister of Dia'heira. Appears in Chapters 44 and 46. Her concept art can be found here.

  • Cloudcuckoo Lander: Even by Jaal'darya standards
  • Creepily Long Arms: Has golem attachments that give this impression.
  • Due to the Dead: She mourns Femi's passing and tenderly carries her body while lamenting her fate. She is the only one of her colleagues that does. The others are merely annoyed that they will have to pick up her work.
  • Fish Eyes: Shown to have these in the third panel.
  • Split-Personality Merge: According to her sponsor, underwent the same manner of fusion with her seed as Kiel, but didn't actually realize it and should basically be considered a Vel'Akarnote  now.
  • Verbal Tic: Dahling.
  • Uncanny Valley Girl: Kiel's demon prince Bast even says that she "stinks of demon"

    Erel'maeyl* 

Erel'maeyl Val'Jaal'darya*note 

A Jaal'darya bio-engineer and Nidraa'chal agent attending Snadhya's gathering in Felde, during Chapter 44. Xis concept art can be found here.

    Visapa* 

Visapa Jaal'darya*note 

A Jaal'darya bio-engineer attending Snadhya's gathering in Felde, during Chapter 44. Her concept art can be found here.

    Vual'raisa* 

Vual'raisa Jaal'darya*note 

A Jaal'darya engineer attending Snadhya's gathering in Felde, during Chapter 44. Her concept art can be found here.

    Aman'ita* 

Aman'ita Jaal'darya*note 

A Jaal'darya botanist and Nidraa'chal agent present at Snadhya's gathering in Chapter 46. Her concept art can be found here.

  • Garden of Evil: She created and tends to one of these.
  • Nerd Glasses: Half-moon spectacles.
  • Poison Is Evil: She studies and uses poisons heavily. She is tasked by Snadhya with replicating Femi's work on the flower poison, after the latter's death.

    Dia’heira* 

Dia’heira Jaal'darya*note 

A cold and calculating Jaal'darya administrator, she is the twin sister of Fia'nova and Gia'trosa's mother. She is also Felis'nuul's "creator". Appears in Chapter 50. Her concept artnote  can be found here.

    Felis'nuul* 

Felis'nuul Jaal'darya*note 

A somewhat unstable Jaal'darya loyal to Snadhya'rune. She was modified with rabbit-like features by Dia’heira. Appears in Chapter 50. Her concept art can be found here.


Return to the main character index here.

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